Worm and Vine

“Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”” 
- Jonah 4:5:11 NIV

In the late summer of 2021, my backyard was attacked by army worms. Little caterpillar-type worms that infested my yard and all but killed the grass. Within a couple of days, my lush, green backyard turned into a brown withered mess of a yard that I struggled to save and bring back.

And each time I’d go outside to play ball with my doodledogs, I found myself frustrated, disappointed, even angry about the army worms… and less focused on the joy of playing with the dogs or how blessed I was to have such a yard to be able to play in.

Sounds like the selfish heart that Jonah displays here… A little anyway… 

After spending time in the belly of a whale… after begrudgingly sharing God’s message to a people that he would rather see destroyed than repent and turn to God, he stewed in his anger as a worm ate the vine that God had given him for shade…. Stewed in anger as he watched God show mercy on a people who very much needed Him.

Isn’t that just like me? More concerned about the worms of life than about the lives around me... the lives to whom I’m called to touch and share Jesus. 

Lives that have needs; physical, emotional, spiritual.

Lives that need to meet and know the Jesus that I say I know... the Jesus who lives in me.
And like Jonah, am I more concerned about the vine that gave me shade and the worm that caused it to wither.

More concerned about the mini-caterpillar plague that ate my yard

Of what are we more concerned than the souls of lost lives… of people who cannot tell right from wrong?

O Lord, forgive my anger and my selfishness. Help my eyes be opened to the needs around me… to those who need You. In Jesus’ name… Amen

Keep the Faith... Carpe Diem